Independent workforce | Still far from weaning off private agencies

Health care facilities that must stop using agency staffing by Oct. 20 have reduced their use of independent labor. But many of them still appear far from weaning themselves off, data obtained by The Press.

Health care facilities in Montreal, Laval, Montérégie, Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches are the first to have to stop using independent labour (MOI), starting in October. With just over two months to go until the deadline, The Press asked them for an inventory.

At the integrated health and social services centre (CISSS) of Montérégie-Est, agency nurses worked more hours between March 24 and July 27 of this year compared to the same period last year: nearly 59,000 hours, compared to approximately 57,600 hours. However, the number of hours decreased for nursing assistants (17,000, compared to 31,000 last year) and orderlies (2,200, compared to 18,700).

The facility adds that it first prioritized reducing MOI among care workers and nursing assistants before “focusing on nurses.”

The CISSS of Chaudière-Appalaches, for its part, had 10 times less recourse to agency beneficiary attendants between 1^er April and July 31 compared to the same period last year (3,800 hours versus 38,800). Nurses from the MOI worked approximately 42,630 hours, compared to nearly 47,770 last year. This is a decrease of 11%, below the 60% reduction target, the institution acknowledges. “For the majority of job titles, the objectives have been met and even exceeded,” it writes.

At the CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest, agency staff worked nearly 240,600 hours (the equivalent of 127 full-time positions) between 1^er April and July 31, compared to 226,000 hours (the equivalent of 120 full-time positions) during the same period last year.

Agency employees filled the equivalent of 93 full-time positions between 1^er April and July 31, 2024, compared to around 53 in 2023, according to the data provided.

The CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest says it has been making “considerable efforts” since April to “restructure home accommodation with the aim of freeing itself from the MOI within the framework of this service.”

The integrated university health and social services centre (CIUSSS) of North Island of Montreal, for its part, says it is “confident” that it will be able to continue its activities without independent labour starting October 20. Between October 1^er Between April and July 31, agency nurses worked about 65,250 hours, compared to 88,680 during the same period last year. The number of hours increased from about 13,000 to 4,700 for nursing assistants and from about 110,000 to 43,000 for orderlies.

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The president of the Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux (FSSS-CSN), Réjean Leclerc, says he is “encouraged” by this decline in the use of independent labour in the public network. “But I am worried about one thing: the deadline,” he says. “We must maintain the objective of abolishing private agencies. But when we are close to a date and we feel that it risks jeopardizing care and services, we must make decisions that aim to protect care and services.”

The president of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), Julie Bouchard, considers the current situation to be “worrying.” “We want to have these healthcare professionals who are in the MOI back in the healthcare network,” she says. “It’s even more important to have a collective agreement that will meet their needs to return to the healthcare network.” The FIQ is considering stepping up pressure tactics due to an “impasse” in the negotiations.